Right Livelihood and Harmony

0:00 Different backgrounds and it's almost like everybody is different but we have one similarity which is the Buddhism which is dharma and to me that's like an interesting reflection because Because one of the things that we practice in Buddhism is this idea of harmony. It's harmony, you know, being able to get along with one another. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

0:38 Especially being social beings, interacting with each other. Sometimes we can rub up against each other. Sometimes we can find fault. We point the finger and, you know, we get upset at one another. And it happens everywhere, even in monasteries. Believe it or not. Because everybody's different. Everybody's different. We practice... Do we practice differently? No, we practice the same. Meditation method is pretty much always the same. Report an error in the passage at 0:38 Highlight the passage at 0:38

1:15 Making peace, being kind, being gentle. Views are the same. We believe in rebirth. We believe in karma. You know, the idea of enlightenment, ending suffering, you know, all those things are the same. But in another way, we are different as well. And sometimes the differences are the things that rub up against each other. Yeah. You know, we have our so-called defilements like greed, hatred and delusion. Report an error in the passage at 1:15 Highlight the passage at 1:15

1:55 And these things can kind of cause tension in a community. Like one of the things like, oh, you're too greedy or something like that. Or, oh, you're too attached. Or, oh, you're too angry. You know, sometimes we throw those comments at one another and these kinds of things cause disharmony within the community. Report an error in the passage at 1:55 Highlight the passage at 1:55

2:20 And that's kind of understandable because not everybody thinks the same. And you can kind of like, if you think about relationships, if husband and wife would think the same, would there be any fights? Report an error in the passage at 2:20 Highlight the passage at 2:20

2:41 If two monks are working on a work site, And we think the same. Do you think we'll have any disagreements on how to hang the plasterboard or how to paint the wall? No, because we think in the same. And in the same way, if the whole community thinks in the same way, do you think there'll be any fights? No, there wouldn't be any fights. Report an error in the passage at 2:41 Highlight the passage at 2:41

3:06 But because there are differences, there's always going to be tension. But the one nice thing that kind of comes out of all of this, That helps us to create more harmony is this idea that we are all in it for the same reason. Report an error in the passage at 3:06 Highlight the passage at 3:06

3:32 We're in it for the same reason. Even though we may not get along with each other sometimes, but we're in it because we want to learn how to meditate. We're in it because we believe in the Buddha, Dhamma and the Saṅgha. And in the same way, if you're a Buddhist as well, you know, you believe in karma, you believe in rebirth, there is a common thread that kind of unites everyone together. Report an error in the passage at 3:32 Highlight the passage at 3:32

4:01 And I think having that thought, like having that thought that we all have the same belief or we're kind of practicing in the same way, Report an error in the passage at 4:01 Highlight the passage at 4:01

4:15 brings us together in a sense, that we can try to work together for harmony. And that's one of the lovely things about having such a ceremony that we are going to have this weekend. Report an error in the passage at 4:15 Highlight the passage at 4:15

4:36 Hands up, anybody going to show up for Sunday? This is a different crowd, eh? no. Report an error in the passage at 4:36 Highlight the passage at 4:36

4:45 There's only a few of us showing up on Sunday, but I'm one of them as well. I haven't shown up for the Way Sack in many, many years. Report an error in the passage at 4:45 Highlight the passage at 4:45

4:58 I think I've only been to one, one or two, maybe one, yeah. And I've been around for a long time. So it will be interesting to see the amount of people that gather. Report an error in the passage at 4:58 Highlight the passage at 4:58

5:14 The inspiration and the happiness that it brings people and almost like there's like a devotion, a devotion there or a respect or even a love, a love for the Buddha basically. That's what Vaisakha is about. It's about this one man that plays a huge important role. In a Buddhist life. So he was very kind because he only asked for one ceremony. He didn't ask for three or four a year, just one. Report an error in the passage at 5:14 Highlight the passage at 5:14

5:54 So he told us to come together to celebrate his birth, his birth, his enlightenment and his death. Because he knows how much hard work organising a ceremony can be. So he taught us to just have one every year. Report an error in the passage at 5:54 Highlight the passage at 5:54

6:16 So thank you, so thank you. Report an error in the passage at 6:16 Highlight the passage at 6:16

6:22 So we come to these ceremonies for different reasons. reasons. Yeah. and And for some of us, it's because this person is important. It's helped us get onto this path of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 6:22 Highlight the passage at 6:22

6:47 This person has kind of taught us how to meditate or has even given us a little bit of hope to have these teachings that kind of bring more peace into our lives. And we can, if you go around, Talking to Buddhists or even people who come here and listen to the talks from all sorts of monks and all sorts of nuns, and you ask them, why do you come here? Report an error in the passage at 6:47 Highlight the passage at 6:47

7:19 Why do you come here? And one of the reasons why they come to a place like this is because it has changed their lives in some sort of way. It changed their lives for the better. Why do you come here, if you ask yourself? Report an error in the passage at 7:19 Highlight the passage at 7:19

7:36 You come here because over the years you've become a more kinder person. You come here because over the years you've developed some peace in your mind. Or you come here over the years because you've got some sort of understanding about the Buddha's words and how they have helped you. Report an error in the passage at 7:36 Highlight the passage at 7:36

8:02 And that's like, yeah, that's... That's kind of the funny thing, the funny thing about listening to talks and listening to teachings and kind of observing the mind, observing the mind to see when do they arise and how do they help you out in daily life. Because we've all been in that situation where we've come here on a Friday night and we've listened to hundreds of thoughts, hundreds of talks. Report an error in the passage at 8:02 Highlight the passage at 8:02

8:35 And then we live our daily lives, and then we get into situations where things might be troublesome. But for some reason, the dharma doesn't appear and help us out. Ajahn Brahm's teachings on the two bad bricks does not appear in my mind, so I end up finding fault within this person. Report an error in the passage at 8:35 Highlight the passage at 8:35

9:04 I'm just getting caught up with one thing that people like to get caught up with, like the news, whatever's happening in the news, I'm just getting caught up in it. And the monks and the nuns, they tell me to let go, but I don't let go. Because for some reason, it's one thing to listen, right? And another thing is for it to kind of manifest in your daily life to help you out. Report an error in the passage at 9:04 Highlight the passage at 9:04

9:30 So sometimes that happens and we can all kind of nod our heads and say, yes, you know, I know what that means. It's kind of true. But then what I've noticed over the years is that sometimes these things do manifest. Report an error in the passage at 9:30 Highlight the passage at 9:30

9:50 And instead of finding fault with somebody, instead of looking at their two bad bricks, Manifest. Report an error in the passage at 9:50 Highlight the passage at 9:50

10:01 You kind of start looking at their 99, 99, 998 good bricks. And what happens is your kind of mood and your emotions or the way you look at that person changes. You're not angry at that person anymore, but you're more accepting, more accepting. And it's also like with this idea of letting go. Letting go. It's one of these words that kind of get thrown around all the time. Buddhists love saying the word letting go. I love saying it myself. Report an error in the passage at 10:01 Highlight the passage at 10:01

10:42 But how often do we do it? You know what I mean? How often does it come up into our minds to kind of play a role in our lives that can help us out? And sometimes it does. We may find ourselves in a tricky situation. And instead of going off to our old habits and our old ways of doing things, we decide to let go. Report an error in the passage at 10:42 Highlight the passage at 10:42

11:08 We decide not to think about things too much. And recently, I've just been reflecting on the idea of letting go. And one of the things about being a Buddhist, Report an error in the passage at 11:08 Highlight the passage at 11:08

11:29 also being just We're doing this because we want to become peaceful beings. We want to be human beings which don't have too much clutter in the mind. We want to have clarity. We kind of want to move through life without too much stress. It's kind of nice, eh? Just walking through life. hmm. Report an error in the passage at 11:29 Highlight the passage at 11:29

11:57 Without too much stress. Without taking any pills. Report an error in the passage at 11:57 Highlight the passage at 11:57

12:06 Yeah, it's kind of sad, really, when you think about how young kids get medicated these days at a young age where they could have tried something else to kind of deal with the problems first. But anyways, that's how things are. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to let it go. Report an error in the passage at 12:06 Highlight the passage at 12:06

12:33 You know what I mean. So you're learning how to let go. And what does letting go mean? To me, it basically means not to worry too much. And we can worry about so many things. One thing we like to worry about is what's happening in the news. People do talk about it a bit too much. And they seem to be overly invested and overly worried about it. And you can kind of tell that it does affect their minds in an unpeaceful way. Report an error in the passage at 12:33 Highlight the passage at 12:33

13:24 So, and it's not to say that reading the news is not recommended, but we can kind of learn how to deal with it in a different way. We can have this attitude of letting go towards it. You know, we can inform ourselves, inform ourselves and don't get... Don't get too invested. Don't get too involved. We get emotional about these things and we get carried away with the anger or the injustice. Report an error in the passage at 13:24 Highlight the passage at 13:24

13:58 And the truth is you can't really do anything about it. Does your anger change anything? Does the feeling of injustice make a difference? No, not really. If you think of it in that way, then it also helps us let go a lot easier. But if you think about it, this practice of letting go, it's actually quite a beautiful practice because you're not only letting go of what's happening in the news. Report an error in the passage at 13:58 Highlight the passage at 13:58

14:30 You're trying to let go of all other aspects in your life. And what I mean is the things that pop up into your head. And one of the things that kind of can pop up into your head is planning for the future. We plan for the future. You know, what do we plan? You know, we plan for a holiday. We plan for a holiday or... And sometimes we're planning for a holiday and we're thinking, oh, I've got to get my suitcase ready. I've got to book the ticket. Report an error in the passage at 14:30 Highlight the passage at 14:30

15:12 I've got to make sure I have all my medication. Report an error in the passage at 15:12 Highlight the passage at 15:12

15:19 Sanitizers. Medication, sanitizing. Report an error in the passage at 15:19 Highlight the passage at 15:19

15:21 What else do we take on holidays? I don't go on holidays, I wouldn't know. Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:30 Clothes, credit card, and we're planning for holidays. You can kind of see how your mind can kind of spin and get out of control and actually start to cause you stress. I? Report an error in the passage at 15:30 Highlight the passage at 15:30

15:48 And with this letting go is that, okay, we know that we need a plan, but at the same time we try to let go of it as well. So what we're doing is we're kind of half planning, we're not taking it too seriously, and we're kind of trusting, trusting life that things will work out okay. And usually things do work out okay. I'm pretty sure... Report an error in the passage at 15:48 Highlight the passage at 15:48

16:16 You have friends out there who are masters of letting go. You know you have that friend, right? They don't really worry about stuff. They don't stress about the future. They're just pretty chill. I'm pretty sure. Everybody stresses out? Okay. But just imagine you have that type of friend, right? Okay, living that type of style. Report an error in the passage at 16:16 Highlight the passage at 16:16

16:45 He's just chill, you know, he lets go. He's chill, he lets go. He's really successful. He doesn't think too much. He travels everywhere. He travels to Indonesia. Tomorrow he's travelling to Melbourne. Report an error in the passage at 16:45 Highlight the passage at 16:45

17:08 He's travelling to Melbourne and he has all these things on his plate. Oh, yeah, you could yeah Report an error in the passage at 17:08 Highlight the passage at 17:08

17:14 He has a plan. When he was a young monk, he planned... Oh, I gave it away. He planned building Bodhinyana Monastery. He planned building Jhana Grove. And he had to deal with all these troublesome monks. No, we're pretty good. He had to deal with all these monks. He is completely relaxed. He's letting go. Report an error in the passage at 17:14 Highlight the passage at 17:14

17:43 Does his whole world fall apart? No, it doesn't. For some reason, it doesn't fall apart and things kind of work out. They work out because you learn not to hold on to things or grasping is probably a better word. It's like grasping, you know, we like, I think it's okay to hold on to things, but when you start grasping at it, then it sort of becomes a problem. Report an error in the passage at 17:43 Highlight the passage at 17:43

18:25 Like you're grasping at, you know, somebody may have said something which isn't kind towards you. You may hold it on, hold on to it for a little bit and you let it go. It's not a problem. But when you start grasping onto it, you hold it, it stays in your mind, it doesn't go away. Then it becomes a problem. And so we learn how to do the opposite and we learn how to kind of trust life to work itself out. Report an error in the passage at 18:25 Highlight the passage at 18:25

18:59 And I think there is evidence, really, to support the idea of letting go and not worrying too much or having too many things in your mind. And we may think, how can I ever get anything done if I don't worry? How can I get anything done if I don't prepare myself? How can I get anything done if I don't think about the future? Some of us, sometimes that happens to us. Report an error in the passage at 18:59 Highlight the passage at 18:59

19:36 It stresses us out. And yes, doing things those ways, because it has worked. And the thing about letting go, letting things go, What you're doing, what you're actually doing is you're actually creating a more peaceful mind. And what is a peaceful mind? A peaceful mind is almost like an empty mind. A mind that kind of lives in the moment. Report an error in the passage at 19:36 Highlight the passage at 19:36

20:36 A mind which has clarity. A mind which doesn't have too much clutter. Report an error in the passage at 20:36 Highlight the passage at 20:36

20:49 because it doesn't have too much clutter, we can kind of see more clearly our thoughts are kind of more efficient. Report an error in the passage at 20:49 Highlight the passage at 20:49

21:01 reason why a mind or mind that worries too much is inefficient is because we spend too much time thinking about those things. We're spending too much time worried about stuff. Our mind's occupied by that. we don't have that clarity to kind of get things done. Report an error in the passage at 21:01 Highlight the passage at 21:01

21:26 Having that clarity, having that mind which is kind of free and spacious and it doesn't think too much, allows us to kind of think more clearly. You get what I mean. If you worry too much, how can you think clearly? You can't, because the worrying is clouding up your thoughts. It's clouding up your mind. It's creating a thing that's called like brain fog. Report an error in the passage at 21:26 Highlight the passage at 21:26

21:59 And we can't really just get through our day that well. But with this practice of letting go, of clearing the mind, the mind actually becomes more clearer. And it doesn't really need... need too much worrying, too many instructions to get things done. Report an error in the passage at 21:59 Highlight the passage at 21:59

22:22 that's a way, think that's a way kind of use the practice of letting go. And I've kind of noticed that the other day. It's like, why do we let go? It's like, you know... It's like we get told to let go all the time. Ajahn Brahm tells us to let go and our monk friends tell us to let go and we're kind of doing it all the time and it's like sometimes we don't understand. Report an error in the passage at 22:22 Highlight the passage at 22:22

23:00 Sometimes we don't understand, why are we letting go? Do you ever think that? Why am I letting go? But then you have moments where you have clarity of mind. And you can see, oh, this is the reason why I'm letting go. It's because I can actually start to feel or experience peace. Report an error in the passage at 23:00 Highlight the passage at 23:00

23:27 Peace. It's very simple. Peace. Who wants to experience peace? Yeah. It's very simple. And I think this is the way to do it. And it's something that, Report an error in the passage at 23:27 Highlight the passage at 23:27

23:46 It's something that doesn't happen. I like to use the old commercial, Pantene Provene. It will happen, but it doesn't happen overnight. It will happen, but it doesn't happen overnight. Report an error in the passage at 23:46 Highlight the passage at 23:46

24:12 And then you just have these moments where Overnight. Report an error in the passage at 24:12 Highlight the passage at 24:12

24:17 Where you just have almost like an understanding of why you let go. And you can start to feel, you start to feel the peace. You're living a peaceful life. And I think this is one of the reasons why we get taught these things. I mean, you just look at your own mind and look at how it gets caught up in things and look at how, you know, whether it can let go or not. Report an error in the passage at 24:17 Highlight the passage at 24:17

24:48 And yeah, it's just one of these things that sometimes, you know, just going back to the idea of Vaisakha and being a Buddhist and also being a part of a religion is that we kind of have faith. We have this thing called faith. And it's pretty much a belief in what others say, say the teacher or the Buddha or whoever. Report an error in the passage at 24:48 Highlight the passage at 24:48

25:34 And we really do not know whether it works or not. But we have faith in it. So we try it out. We try it out. And we experiment. Report an error in the passage at 25:34 Highlight the passage at 25:34

25:51 To see whether these things work or not. And yeah, I think like experimentation, you know, with our own minds and with the teachings is something which is kind of like, it's Report an error in the passage at 25:51 Highlight the passage at 25:51

26:22 encouraged and it's not, And it's something that we kind of get taught that if it doesn't work for us, then we don't have to believe it. And that's one of the nice things about Buddhism. When I was a young monk, it kind of teaches you to think for yourself. Even though it's a religion, even though there's faith there as well, There's belief. But at the same time, the Buddha advised us not to take on these teachings blindly, but instead to think for ourselves. Report an error in the passage at 26:22 Highlight the passage at 26:22

27:09 And what he basically said was, these teachings are here, I will teach them, and my advice to you is to put them into practice. Put them into practice and then if they work for you, you can follow them. They're useful to your life, but if they don't make sense to you, then you don't have to believe. You don't have to follow. And that's also, that's like one of the nice things about this religion is because it gives you that freedom to kind of make up your own mind or kind of You can decide what you want to believe in. But at the same time, this idea of faith is interesting because it kind of makes us do things that we probably wouldn't want to do. Report an error in the passage at 27:09 Highlight the passage at 27:09

28:13 And this idea of faith, it gives us the belief that certain things can happen. Things like enlightenment, things like the deep meditations. And sometimes without this faith, it doesn't give us the motivation to put the steps in, in order to experience the peace and the enlightenments that people. ...have experienced in the past. And I think that's one of the... And I think that sometimes we kind of need it. Report an error in the passage at 28:13 Highlight the passage at 28:13

29:01 We kind of need it as human beings. Sometimes we may feel down on ourselves or think that we cannot do it. This lofty goal of just being able to let go or to meditate for half an hour and be peaceful. I've tried it before. Report an error in the passage at 29:01 Highlight the passage at 29:01

29:22 So sometimes we kind of need examples to encourage us, to kind of let us know that it's possible. And I'm fortunate enough to have a teacher like Ajahn Brahm, who I believe is He's a gem, you know, he's a gem. And yeah, he's like a very rare being in this world. And I remember when I was a younger monk and I was just trying to find my way in a monastery. Report an error in the passage at 29:22 Highlight the passage at 29:22

30:12 Anagarika, I was wearing white, and I was just trying to find my way in the monastery, you know. Oh, how do I behave? And in my mind I thought, I thought, oh, I'm going to, one of the thoughts I remember now is like in my mind I thought, I'm going to leave the world. Report an error in the passage at 30:12 Highlight the passage at 30:12

30:30 And at a young age, I left at a very young age, and I leave the world and join the monastery. And in my mind I always thought it was going to be like the military. Report an error in the passage at 30:30 Highlight the passage at 30:30

30:44 You get up at 3 o 'clock in the morning and there's a sergeant there and he's going to tell you what to do and you've got to do as you're told. So I had that idea in my mind and I was prepared for the situation to be like that. Report an error in the passage at 30:44 Highlight the passage at 30:44

31:08 So I went there not knowing what I was getting into. But in my mind, I wanted to go there to, I think basically, it was basically to practice meditation and better myself as a human being. And I think I was too attached to my PlayStation 3, so I had to give it up. Report an error in the passage at 31:08 Highlight the passage at 31:08

31:46 It's a joke. And then when you're just very green, very green and in a new environment, not knowing your capabilities or if you can do enough to let go or do enough to meditate. You doubt yourself, you know, you doubt yourself. And when you're there, you're trying to look for some sort of sign or some sort of indicator that kind of gives you that encouragement that you can do it. Report an error in the passage at 31:46 Highlight the passage at 31:46

32:35 And sometimes I think that's all we need is that encouragement to do it. I mean, the teachings are all there. I mean, we tell you to be good people, keep the five precepts, meditate. And we hear it, we hear it, but we just sit on our bums. Report an error in the passage at 32:35 Highlight the passage at 32:35

33:00 We don't do it. And sometimes we kind of need that encouragement to do it, to go out and, you know, volunteer your time, to put your bums on the meditation cushion. To learn the Dhamma, you know, all those kinds of things that can kind of help us develop ourselves as human beings. It's not like, it's also a practice of doing, really. Report an error in the passage at 33:00 Highlight the passage at 33:00

33:33 It's not just trying to figure out the universe in our own minds. But there's also like a physical aspect to it. know, when we talk about the Eightfold Path, know, there's, there's, there's a, there's a, there's a, there's a, there's Report an error in the passage at 33:33 Highlight the passage at 33:33

33:53 like, one of the paths is like right livelihood, is basically what you do, And one of the physical things you can do is go out. I remember one of our jivas. Report an error in the passage at 33:53 Highlight the passage at 33:53

34:21 He's very, very tall. He's very tall. He was like a giant. Very tall. Oh, very tall. And Caucasian. Report an error in the passage at 34:21 Highlight the passage at 34:21

34:40 He's probably listening to this talk tonight. Client. Report an error in the passage at 34:40 Highlight the passage at 34:40

34:43 and uh um And we're just, I was just doing my usual Bunnings run. I know a lot of you males can relate. Report an error in the passage at 34:43 Highlight the passage at 34:43

35:01 Doing our Bunnings runs. And, oh yeah, yeah, garden section, right? No? Yeah, garden section. Well, maybe paint. Who knows? Yeah. And, and, and, yes. Report an error in the passage at 35:01 Highlight the passage at 35:01

35:21 So, And he just showed me like a random act of kindness without me telling him what to do. And what he did was he saw an old lady pushing a cart full of stuff. I was like, well, you had a good time in Bunnings. Report an error in the passage at 35:21 Highlight the passage at 35:21

35:49 And he was like, oh my gosh, look at that. Look at the trolley, it's just full of stuff. I can't imagine her carrying it into her car. So we were ready to go, we were sitting in the car and he stopped me. He said, Ajahn, Ajahn, Ajahn, can I please get out of the car and help that lady out? I said, yeah, sure, no problem. Report an error in the passage at 35:49 Highlight the passage at 35:49

36:19 So he gets out of the car and he helps out that lady. And isn't that a lovely thing to do? Just being able to just do something like that adds a little bit of happiness into our lives. And it kind of, I was talking about encouragement, just talking about encouragement and just giving us that. Confidence that we can kind of do these things ourselves and just a simple act of helping somebody out like that is actual practicing for a better life. Report an error in the passage at 36:19 Highlight the passage at 36:19

37:06 And it's something, it's called good karma, good karma or making merit. And sometimes, you know, living in a monastery, monastery. Report an error in the passage at 37:06 Highlight the passage at 37:06

37:24 Sometimes we can, you know, we can as, just as people, not just monks, but just as people, I think we forget to do something good. We can go and live our lives for months without helping anybody. And I think that that's kind of a common thing. So sometimes it's nice to just reflect that even though You're helping somebody out or giving up your time. Sometimes we think, oh, we're giving up our time. I'd rather spend that time for myself and do what I want to do. Report an error in the passage at 37:24 Highlight the passage at 37:24

38:01 But instead, another attitude to have is to give up your own time for somebody else, where it could be valuable, where you're not getting anything from it, but you're just doing it because you want to make some good karma. You want to make some merit. And that was just one of the nice reflections that I had just earlier this week. Report an error in the passage at 38:01 Highlight the passage at 38:01

38:30 I was just walking down from the senior monk's quarters and there's this massive deck, like just to my right is a deck, but it's going to be like a multi-purpose hall for Kusala Hermitage. teach. Report an error in the passage at 38:30 Highlight the passage at 38:30

38:49 And I'm going to be putting a lot of work into it and also the monks at the Hermitage. We're going to be spending hours working on the project. We're going to be doing a lot of Bunnings runs. Yeah. I should be getting a gold card soon. I've been there so many times. But they don't give them out. They don't give them out. Report an error in the passage at 38:49 Highlight the passage at 38:49

39:19 And just looking at that amount of work that is ahead of us, one can start to complain, you know. Oh, it's just going to take up all my time. I can't spend time getting my beauty sleep. I can't sleep that 12 hours that I want. I was just joking. But you know what I mean. Report an error in the passage at 39:19 Highlight the passage at 39:19

40:00 the 99 998 good bricks by just looking at what the future holds in that type of project amount of The work that you're going to put into it, the cladding that goes up, the paint, and all these kinds of things. Report an error in the passage at 40:00 Highlight the passage at 40:00

40:24 And sometimes, Report an error in the passage at 40:24 Highlight the passage at 40:24

40:30 like Ajahn Brahm would tell me, don't work too hard, don't work too hard. But then I kind of say to him, I don't mind working too hard because I know it's worth it. And sometimes... Report an error in the passage at 40:30 Highlight the passage at 40:30

40:44 Yeah, I know it's worth it because you're going to end up with a small hermitage, monastery, for other people to use. A place for them to go to, to meditate, to feed the monks, because we're always hungry, to hang out with us, because we're kind of cool too. Report an error in the passage at 40:44 Highlight the passage at 40:44

41:09 And just to enjoy the good vibes. vibes and So when you think about the positives, basically you're just thinking about the positives. You can find reasons to do it. Reasons to give up your time. Really, that's a hard thing for people to do. Give up their own time. It's like, my time. I want to do what I want to do. Report an error in the passage at 41:09 Highlight the passage at 41:09

41:39 And give it to somebody else. Give it to a cause. Go and... Pull the weeds in your mother's house or something like that. I'm pretty sure she'll cook you your favorite meal for dinner. Report an error in the passage at 41:39 Highlight the passage at 41:39

41:56 But just going back, just me going into a monastery when I was quite young and really not knowing how to navigate this path of Buddhism. Report an error in the passage at 41:56 Highlight the passage at 41:56

42:14 And to do it in a way where I can fulfill my wishes to become a better person, better meditator, etc., etc. And just needing those kind of indicators or just those things that you can see that allows you to have that possibility that you could do it yourself. And just being able to observe somebody like Ajahn Brahm, Ajahn Brahm for the first couple of weeks. Report an error in the passage at 42:14 Highlight the passage at 42:14

42:53 And to me, he was just like a normal guy. He was just a normal guy. And I remember one thing was, he would just walk around the table to collect the food. He would just walk around, walk around. This is like 20-odd years ago. And he would just joke around. Joke around, cracking jokes, laughing. I'm like, yeah, this is my kind of place. Report an error in the passage at 42:53 Highlight the passage at 42:53

43:23 Because I thought to myself, oh, it's going to be a strict place. And it's going to be a strict place. You've got to be a certain way. But somebody like Ajahn Brahm, he kind of goes around just being natural, just laughing, joking around, being kind. place Report an error in the passage at 43:23 Highlight the passage at 43:23

43:44 Being a human being and also being able to be a great example of what practice can kind of, the result of good practice can be. And if a guy from England who tells really bad jokes can do it. Report an error in the passage at 43:44 Highlight the passage at 43:44

44:13 Can do it. And have hairy ears, can do it. Report an error in the passage at 44:13 Highlight the passage at 44:13

44:20 Why can't we? You know what I mean? Why can't we? And that's kind of reassuring. It's like, if others can do it, so can us. So that's, so can us. So, you know, just give it a go. Give it a go. and Report an error in the passage at 44:20 Highlight the passage at 44:20

44:47 Just remember, it will happen, but it doesn't happen overnight. And I think one of the more organic visualizations on how the path works is the monks from Thailand, the Thai tradition, where Ajahn Brahm kind of started. These simple monks who live in the forest who took examples. from where they live to kind of describe how the path kind of unfolds and they would all they would for most part they would use the they will use the the they will use the idea of of growing like growing a tree growing a tree very simple very simple example like growing a tree yeah growing a tree and But you're growing a tree from a seed and if you want a tree that bears, you want a tree that is fully grown and bears a lot of fruit, you've got to give it time. Report an error in the passage at 44:47 Highlight the passage at 44:47

46:02 Sometimes the fruit could mean like the fruit of wisdom or you can sit under the shade of a cool tree which is kind of like... the mind that you've developed over the years. Copyright © 2020 Mooji Media Ltd. All Rights Reserved. that are clever. We know how to How to make that tree grow faster. We feed it. We feed it. We look after it. We feed it fertilizer. We give it water. Report an error in the passage at 46:02 Highlight the passage at 46:02

46:54 We put it in the right position. It needs the sun. People talk to trees. You talk to your tree and then ask it to grow quicker and it grows quicker. But you kind of need that care. and Report an error in the passage at 46:54 Highlight the passage at 46:54

47:13 You need to kind of tweak it a little bit and it kind of grows. And it will grow eventually. And it's the same with this path of personal growth. It's not coming here to run a sprint, but instead of being in a marathon, it takes time. And we're kind of looking after the tree. It's similar to nourishing our own minds. Report an error in the passage at 47:13 Highlight the passage at 47:13

47:41 You know, we nourish our own minds with the dhamma, you know, making good karma, meditating, studying. And these kinds of things, they help us become more better people. But the main point that I'm trying to make is that we need the patience. We need a weight. For these things to kind of unfold. And yeah. And that's the thing. That's the wonder. Report an error in the passage at 47:41 Highlight the passage at 47:41

48:21 I think that's the wonder. Really, that is the wonder of the path is that things unfold. They just unfold. Like you have moments where things unfold and you have more understanding into what letting go is. Report an error in the passage at 48:21 Highlight the passage at 48:21

48:41 you have moments where things unfold and you understand what it feels like to be peaceful or or or you have moments where you've been kind of living this life and things unfold and you kind of know how it feels like to be a more loving and caring person so these things you know they they don't manifest they really don't manifest by you making them happen but they manifest by Report an error in the passage at 48:41 Highlight the passage at 48:41

49:10 You, you know, you putting in the causes, putting in the causes and waiting and eventually these things unfold in front of you, giving you the experience of what letting go is, giving you the experience of being a kinder, more caring person. And I think I would like to end the talk there and we can open up for some questions. Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 49:10 Highlight the passage at 49:10

49:44 Any Report an error in the passage at 49:44 Highlight the passage at 49:44

49:59 questions? Report an error in the passage at 49:59 Highlight the passage at 49:59

50:10 Ajahn Report an error in the passage at 50:10 Highlight the passage at 50:10

50:33 thanks for the good talk. You are advising us on how to let go and live a good Buddhist life and make ourselves peaceful and happy. please, please. Report an error in the passage at 50:33 Highlight the passage at 50:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

50:50 Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thanks very much for that, yeah, yeah. You see, as you talk this thing, you know, okay, I was referring to myself, how I practice the things, wasn't it? Yeah. Was the eight winds, you know, that I rely a lot in praise and blame, profit and loss. Oh, yes, yeah, yeah. Yeah, calamity, this, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 50:50 Highlight the passage at 50:50

51:10 That helps a lot. I got a magnet in the fridge, you know, the eight winds. So anytime I refer to it, oh. That helps a lot. The other thing I want to talk to you is, you mentioned about Ajahn Brahm's two bad bricks. That's true. The thing is, we as human beings, there's a deep tendency on us. If we have a good friend, a good friend who does everything good, one day there's a little mistake. Report an error in the passage at 51:10 Highlight the passage at 51:10

51:44 We harp on the mistake, we view the person as bad. Isn't it? That's that tendency for me too. So I use this, but if you use this thing, it's not good for you. And also the Buddha was saying, it's hard to see our fault on fault, easy to see others' fault. Yes. Report an error in the passage at 51:44 Highlight the passage at 51:44

52:12 Yeah, and I was just reflecting like we're human beings and we have greed, hatred and delusion and because we're unenlightened it's okay to have them as well. You can't expect to be perfect. We're going to get angry at one another but I think at the same time if you understand that you have your own problems and others do too then that way you can kind of be easier on each other there's no need to be too hard yeah yeah because we all we're all not perfect yeah yeah so also like that's what you're saying doing good you know huh you're saying doing good yeah it's part of you know to make us happy too yeah yeah yeah yeah it's just amazing it is amazing to see The amount of generosity surrounding this community. The monks and the nuns get looked after really well. Report an error in the passage at 52:12 Highlight the passage at 52:12

53:21 People wake up five o 'clock in the morning to cook for us. That's a huge effort and it's a rare thing to see. Yeah, rare thing to see, yeah. And these people, they kind of need to be praised. They deserve the praise, actually. That's right. And also by doing good, they feel happy too. Only this afternoon, you know, as you said, doing good, I received this phone call from this person, you know. I know this person. I said, oh, Eddie, you know, I need your help, okay? Report an error in the passage at 53:21 Highlight the passage at 53:21

53:52 They want to give a lot of donation away, you know. They are very rich. They've got millions of dollars now. And I said, well, you just wait. Ajahn Brahm is in Melbourne. When he comes back, I'll take you to see him this thing. You see this, you know, like a Buddhist, after a while they realise, you know, you know, this good, you know, you can't take the money with you, you know. Report an error in the passage at 53:52 Highlight the passage at 53:52

54:16 Yeah, you can't take the money with you. That you need to do good to receive the good karma, the happiness and peace. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thank you for the talk. Very nice talk tonight. Okay, thank you. No problem. Report an error in the passage at 54:16 Highlight the passage at 54:16

54:32 Any more questions? Any more questions? Yes, young man at the front. Thank you. Thank you for the meditation guidance. Yes. And dharma talk as well. Yes. I got a question about like, just recently I got a little bit of a problem to talk to people that are too much in their mind, for example, right? Like too much sort of like, I don't know, too much talking about the news and the petrol prices going up and stuff like this. I'm trying to practice, so I'm just letting go. Report an error in the passage at 54:32 Highlight the passage at 54:32

55:12 You go on Tuesday to the petrol station and you fill up anyway. What's the problem? You don't understand. It's really this and it's really that. Report an error in the passage at 55:12 Highlight the passage at 55:12

55:26 sort of when they talk to with the responses that you give them. It's kind of like strange, you know, so practice Dhamma and then like live in the real world and speak to like real people, colleagues at work, you know, it's sort of like clashes. Report an error in the passage at 55:26 Highlight the passage at 55:26

55:46 I think just live by who you want to be. Live by who you want to be. And just learn to listen to the way people speak without getting annoyed or without fault finding. And I think it's actually a good way to practice acceptance. Because in your mind, because you want to do something else in terms of how you want to focus your mind on letting go and not worrying about these things. Report an error in the passage at 55:46 Highlight the passage at 55:46

56:26 And when these people just... Just rabbiting on about these issues. And then we can see that our minds are getting caught up. Why are they complaining? They shouldn't be doing this. And you can kind of see that it's not their problem anymore. It becomes your problem. Because you're labeling what they're doing as complaint and stuff like that. So instead we kind of learn how to accept. And we accept. Report an error in the passage at 56:26 Highlight the passage at 56:26

56:56 We allow people to be. Sooner or later, they walk off to the next room. And you walk off to your room. And you're by yourself. And because you didn't get worked up, you allowed things to be, you can just easily move on with what you're going to do next. Report an error in the passage at 56:56 Highlight the passage at 56:56

57:20 Because, you know, I've been around people like that too. You know, people talk like that sometimes. and and just a part of who people are you know that's how they think that's how they think if they're complaining they complain um but you understand that's that's also their problem is not yours so you don't need to get up caught up in that negativity no problems yeah Report an error in the passage at 57:20 Highlight the passage at 57:20

57:55 So Report an error in the passage at 57:55 Highlight the passage at 57:55

58:01 help me out, Ajahn. Yes. was asked to... I don't think I'm going to accept this offer, but I was asked to be part of a discussion with an interfaith group. Oh yeah? Who? Well, HWPL. HW, HWPL. Anyway, the question is, the theme is our beginning as spoken from the scriptures. The question is, According to each scripture, how is the beginning of all things explained? Also, how is the beginning and existence of humans explained? Report an error in the passage at 58:01 Highlight the passage at 58:01

58:47 And I looked at that and thought, oh my God. Yes, that's what I would do too. Spare the blasphemy. Report an error in the passage at 58:47 Highlight the passage at 58:47

58:56 Where do you even start with that? People like to think about stuff like that. Yeah, I know. And I thought, you're a good, happy, jovial person. me. Report an error in the passage at 58:56 Highlight the passage at 58:56

59:07 I was just talking to somebody recently and just people just like that. They like facts, they like information, you know, things like that. Report an error in the passage at 59:07 Highlight the passage at 59:07

59:19 And yeah, just people are wired differently, I suppose. And that thing is, those things are, there are people out there who are really into that kind of stuff. And those are the ones that know what to say and have done the study. And they're the ones that are fitting to join those discussions. I think somebody like me would be like, when's my next Bunnings run? Report an error in the passage at 59:19 Highlight the passage at 59:19

59:49 Yeah, do we launch into a discussion of dependent origination or evolution or what? It's more of a discussion on knowledge, really, and not experience. Yeah. I actually think it's a bit of a tautology, really, because... If form was emptiness and emptiness was form, why are we worried about these human forms anyway? Anybody else? Report an error in the passage at 59:49 Highlight the passage at 59:49

1:00:23 No, no, okay. Oh, one more person. Yes, Cain. Thank you, Ajahn. I was just reflecting what Sandra was asking on the beginnings of things. I mean, in a sense, don't we also think about those things in a different way? Like what are the... the underlying mechanisms of things maybe underlying what mechanisms are you things or what are the reasons yeah it's interesting you always find it interesting I can see that yeah then at the same time people can just say it's a lot of gobbledygook a lot of people out there to say that too yeah Report an error in the passage at 1:00:23 Highlight the passage at 1:00:23

1:01:09 Okay, I'll answer some of these questions. Do I need to answer all of them? I do? I do. you're going to cry. Okay. Okay. Question from Germany. Dear Ajahn, when meditating, how can I develop and strengthen my patience and endure myself and carry that patience and strength into my daily life and find peace in meditation? Report an error in the passage at 1:01:09 Highlight the passage at 1:01:09

1:01:31 Thanks, Ajahn. Oh, yeah. Ajahn Brahm's famous quote, making peace, being kind, being gentle, just being able to relax in meditation. And that's one of the things, one of the skills, really. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:31 Highlight the passage at 1:01:31

1:01:49 that Report an error in the passage at 1:01:49 Highlight the passage at 1:01:49

1:01:52 One of the skills that really help, I think, with the meditation practice, especially with restlessness, because when one has a restless mind, one tends to not meditate for too long. And when you don't meditate long enough, Then you don't really get the benefits of the practice. And this method of, it's not even really a method, but if you know how to deal with, I think if you know how to deal with restlessness, you are able to generate more patience. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:52 Highlight the passage at 1:01:52

1:02:44 In your practice. And what patient means is that if you can, if you just set a timer, this goes against the grain I think of what Ajahn Brahm teaches, but if you set a timer and kind of make yourself sit. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:44 Highlight the passage at 1:02:44

1:03:11 Sit for one hour. This is just an experiment. You don't have to do it every time. And you sit for one hour and you don't mind whatever is going to appear in your mind. Whether it's greed, hatred, delusion, sleepiness, restlessness, all those things, anything, anything goes, anything goes that arises in your own mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:11 Highlight the passage at 1:03:11

1:03:40 One. If one can be relaxed and not worry about whatever's happening, it's hard to explain. It's like you're not worried about what's happening. You can be chill, you can be cool with whatever's going on. That in itself helps you practice patience. And that in itself helps you overcome the restlessness. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:04:11 In your meditation practice, the one reason why people become restless is because they're not patient enough. Because they're not patient enough. What I mean by patient is they're not willing to allow the hard emotions or the hard thoughts that stop us from meditating. Some of us, you know, we meditate and then we find it challenging after five minutes. It may be a feeling that we get or maybe a thought. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:11 Highlight the passage at 1:04:11

1:04:51 And what happens is we give up. We get up and we don't meditate. But if you learn how to relax, you learn how to relax, and when those hard feelings come up or those thoughts that come up to tell you, Don't meditate. You kind of ignore them. You ignore them. But not in a negative way, but in a calm way. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:51 Highlight the passage at 1:04:51

1:05:21 In a calm way, you're relaxed. And this kind of relaxation, this relaxation, it kind of allows you to be with whatever is happening now. Even though you want to quit, you want to stop, but you're able to be here. And this is how we practice patience, is to be able to sit through those difficult times and see the fruits that come from it. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:21 Highlight the passage at 1:05:21

1:05:53 And we all know, we've meditated long enough, that these difficult times will arise, but they disappear. It sounds cliché. Everybody says it, but they disappear. They disappear, and what is left is a peaceful mind. Those hard feelings, why is there a peaceful mind? Because those hard feelings have gone. Why is it a peaceful mind? It's because those hard thoughts, they're not there anymore. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:53 Highlight the passage at 1:05:53

1:06:24 There's actually like, if you want to describe your meditation, I think you can either call it hard, and it's difficult, you know, we sit and it's difficult, or it could be soft. And when it's soft, it's nice. It's easy to explain. It's nice. It's peaceful. And this is how you carry the patience through your life, or the patience into your life, where you carry it into your life and you're patient. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:24 Highlight the passage at 1:06:24

1:07:03 You know how to be patient with your mind when it's going through a difficult time, where it's angry or whatever, and you can place that patience. On to somebody else. Say, for example, sometimes where I live, sometimes people do get on my nerves. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:03 Highlight the passage at 1:07:03

1:07:27 It's on my nerves, on my nerves. And, you know, I have these reactions. But because I've been practicing patience, I can kind of put that patience on to them in a way where... where Report an error in the passage at 1:07:27 Highlight the passage at 1:07:27

1:07:43 I do not overreact or I do not act to the way they're talking or to the way they're kind of, the energy that they're giving off or whatever. And instead you just learn how to accept and be patient. And usually these things, even though, and usually these things, when you're patient, the kind of feeling that you get by being around certain type of like... Report an error in the passage at 1:07:43 Highlight the passage at 1:07:43

1:08:13 Other people's mind states, they may affect you, but if you're patient enough, that feeling that you have or that you're carrying within, those things will kind of, they disappear. And they disappear through patience. And whatever that person said or however that person triggered you, it doesn't matter because you're not carrying it with you anymore. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:13 Highlight the passage at 1:08:13

1:08:36 And that's how you practice patience. You're patient with yourself and you learn how to be patient with others. You don't snap, you don't crack, you just patiently move on. Hi Ajahn, please describe the definition of meditation in Buddhist verses. What is put there and what is it that we do in retreats? Report an error in the passage at 1:08:36 Highlight the passage at 1:08:36

1:09:06 What do we aim for? Buddhism verses. Well, I don't know what it means by that, but what is it that we do in retreats and what do we aim for? I mean, there's so many teachings, but just to keep it short, what you do in retreats is, a nice way to put it, is it's a way for you to escape from the world. That's actually quite nice. Do you want to escape from the world? Have a holiday? Go and retreat? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:06 Highlight the passage at 1:09:06

1:09:44 I think that's one of the nice things about going on retreat. If you can take a few days off, go on a weekend retreat, a five-day retreat, and a nice way of looking at it is basically taking a break from your life. Sometimes I like to see things in that way. I take a break from being the builder in the monastery. Oh, that's so nice. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:44 Highlight the passage at 1:09:44

1:10:07 Don't have to do anything. You take a break from your own life when you go on retreat. That's kind of nice. Don't have to think about your dog. Don't have to, I don't know what else you think about. Don't have to think about your cat, your garden, bills to pay. No, no, no worries. You don't have to think about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:07 Highlight the passage at 1:10:07

1:10:22 That's great. So yeah, that's one of the benefits when you go and retreat. And what do you aim for? I don't know. What did Ajahn Brahm say? You aim for nothing. Yeah. That's kind of funny, you know. You aim for nothing, but you get everything. Isn't that nice? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:22 Highlight the passage at 1:10:22

1:10:45 It's kind of Zen, isn't it? You do nothing to get everything. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:45 Highlight the passage at 1:10:45

1:10:52 Everything good. Okay, anyways. James, James the Silver question. I have an exam. There is a lot to learn. I don't know how to remember all these information. Can you tell me how to handle exam pressure and exam stress? Oh, I can really relate to this because... I was never a person who could hold information in my mind and I still can't do it. So, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:52 Highlight the passage at 1:10:52

1:11:26 Sometimes we're good at things and sometimes we're not. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:26 Highlight the passage at 1:11:26

1:11:33 And it's just a part of your life that you have to go through. Just do your best. Just do your best. And if you don't do too well, try not to stress over it because there's other things that you can do in life, you know. to make money make money have a good life and that's all you really need to do so in a sense in a sense i would advise you to just try your best try your best because you don't want to look at it in five ten years time and kind of see in a way where you didn't try enough and you could have thought oh what if if i tried a little bit better i could have done this this and that and um when you kind of We want to look at it from an angle of meditation. Ajahn Brahm speaks about it a lot of the time. He kind of says that if you meditate, you have a quiet mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:33 Highlight the passage at 1:11:33

1:12:28 It's kind of easier to retain information. He's given examples of where people listen mindfully and because they listen so well, they remember the information. They don't need to study. They go to do the exam and they pass. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:28 Highlight the passage at 1:12:28

1:12:46 And another nice memory is of Ajahn Brahm. He actually has a really good memory. And one of the things that he was good at was the pop quizzes that they would have in classes, and the teachers would ask names of just weird questions, and he would actually recall what the teacher said. He said, I only had to listen to it once, but I remember. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:46 Highlight the passage at 1:12:46

1:13:14 One of the things that he remembered, I can't remember the word because I'm just like this guy here, I just can't retain information. And he, what is it, he said, what was the female name for a duck? Does anybody know the female name for a duck? Pen. Pen. Female name for a duck is pen. And he remembered that. And he was like nine, ten years old. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:14 Highlight the passage at 1:13:14

1:13:36 So some people have this ability to recall things like that. And he kind of gives the example, if you listen fully, like, If you listen fully in class, you give your studies 100%. I think the results that come from that effort is the best result that you can have. And the rest is basically up to your natural ability, you would say. Yeah. Okay. All right. Question. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:36 Highlight the passage at 1:13:36

1:14:07 What sin did Lord Buddha do for Devadatta to come behind him in Lord Buddha's previous birth? Devadatta seemed to come behind Lord Buddha's life seeking revenge. How to handle such karma? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:07 Highlight the passage at 1:14:07

1:14:26 Well, I Report an error in the passage at 1:14:26 Highlight the passage at 1:14:26

1:14:38 think just with the idea of karma, I mean this word has been thrown around for many years in my life and in other Buddhist lives and sometimes we can We can think endlessly about these things and sometimes I think it's not really important to focus too much on these types of questions about why, what type of karma did such and such do for this result to happen. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:38 Highlight the passage at 1:14:38

1:15:19 And in this instance he's talking about What did the Buddha do to have somebody like Devadatta wanting to take revenge on him? And sometimes when you kind of think about the good and the bad that people do or what we receive through karma, it's kind of endless. And the reason why it's endless is because I like to think about it in ways of we live multiple lifetimes, like a zillion. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:19 Highlight the passage at 1:15:19

1:15:54 If you study the Buddhist texts and you talk to many Buddhists, they'll probably tell you that we've been reborn a zillion, a kajillion, million times. Heaps of times. It's like uncountable. So if that is the case, there's always going to be good and bad karma. And you don't really know. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:54 Highlight the passage at 1:15:54

1:16:22 When it's going to happen or when it's going to arise. And because of that, I don't really think that we need to give too much thought into these kinds of things because it just ends up in proliferation. It just ends up in what ifs. And you're kind of like wasting time thinking in this manner. So that's my kind of take on that. And that's it. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:22 Highlight the passage at 1:16:22

1:16:52 We can go home. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:52 Highlight the passage at 1:16:52

1:17:01 Oh, thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:01 Highlight the passage at 1:17:01